Southern California -- this just in

Tom McClintock speaks out on farm animal, gay marriage measures

October 21, 2008 | 3:10
pm

State Sen. Tom McClintock, the vocal conservative Republican from Thousand Oaks, probably shouldn’t expect an invitation to the next party by PETA or the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center after comments he made today on two controversial ballot measures.

Locked in a tight race for Congress with Democrat Charlie Brown, McClintock announced today that he opposes Proposition 2, which prohibits confining hens, pigs and calves in small cages that prevent extension of their limbs.

"Sorry, but farm animals are food, not friends," McClintock said. "Plan on somewhat happier cows and much higher grocery bills if this one passes."

He is equally likely to stir up opponents of Proposition 8 with his support for the measure that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

"Lincoln asked, 'If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog? The answer is four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one,'" McClintock said in a statement. "And calling a homosexual partnership a marriage doesn’t make it one."

Calls to the "No on Prop. 8" and "Yes on Prop. 2" campaigns were not immediately returned. McClintock also announced that he opposes Proposition 1A, the high-speed rail bond, calling it "the most outrageously expensive boondoggle in California’s long history of outrageously expensive boondoggles."